Sea of Beas, Shepherd's Bush Empire, 15 February 2011

The first song was quite striking, but they became more conventional through the set. 

The band was two women, with one acoustic and one electric guitar. The woman on the left sang in a strange falsetto, a bit Sigur Ros.

Some lyrics even a bit cliched, though through focus of strange voice seemed more interesting than they might otherwise have been. An interesting set, but I wasn't wholly won over.

Go! Team, Heaven, 8 February 2011

Go! Team got the crowd dancing on a Tuesday night. What more is there to say?

Heaven was a great venue for Go! Team as it is on the intimate side for a club. The sold out gig was packed full of people in the kind of good mood that the Go! Team's music is supposed to engender.

It was a different kind of atmosphere to what you may normally find at a week night gig, everyone was having a great time and far from staring at their shoes the band got the crowd dancing, singing along and putting their hands in the air from the first song.

The band was very tight, and remember the band's origins from a first album of samples which was then recreated with a real life band.

It didn't matter that we didn't know all material as the songs from the new album had a similar good time feel to them. This also meant that the audience were into the whole set, not just their favourite old songs. This really contributed to the spirited atmosphere.

I Am Kloot, Shepherd's Bush Empire, January 28th 2011

 Having seen them play to a handful of people at the Oxford Zodiac 10 years ago, it was like a personal celebration to see them pack out a Friday night gig at Shepherd's Bush Empire.

They played a mixture of old nd new songs from their ten-years-plus of material, all of which were fantastically well received. They were joined by a brass section and strings.

We didn't know quite a few of the new ones, but they were played very well, so didn't mind. Very pleased to hear them play Same Deep Water As Me. And Proof was blinding. Crowd were really into show, creating a great atmosphere.

Any opinions on Edwyn Collins? I am vaguely familiar with his work in Orange Juice and loved his hit single, Girl Like You. You also have to admire him for coming back from a severe cerebral hemorrhage. . This looks like a rare US appearance. Anyone have an opinion to share?

No Depression announces its SXSW showcase

No Depression was an excellent print magazine that covered the alt-country movement ( whatever that was ), back in the 1990s. Unfortunately the print version was one of the first magazines to go under. They have however maintained a very good website at www.nodepression.com and yesterday announced their 2011 SXSW showcase: http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/announcing-the-2011-no

Reviewing the list of SXSW bands

The holidays are over! The stockings have all been put back in their proper receptacles. My Best of 2010 music wrap up has been written and mailed. Now it is time to turn my attention to SXSW 2011. I am happy to see that the Music Festival has posted over 1000 bands already. I am disappointed that I knew only a handful. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I am even more disappointed that it does not appear that I will be able to use my usual method to discover new talent. In previous years, I would spend one evening downloading the sample MP3's posted by the bands. I would then create CDs/playlists of these hundreds of songs and listen to them over a period of weeks, giving each a rating from 1 to 5. No samples of been posted so far. It appears that the festival is providing only links to MYSPACE pages. To load and listen that number of bands will be too time consuming. I therefore ask: 1) Do you have an alternative? Something like an Iphone ap that will speed up the process :-) 2) Can you give recommendations of bands you guys have heard of? ( I will create a list ).

Hopefully I will be posting a lot more often in the next few weeks.

Review: Jenny and Johnny, Luminaire, London UK, 10 December 2010

Top rock'n'indie pop. Now I understand the rave reviews. I've been enjoying the album and thinking 'Lemonheads and Juliana Hatfield' but this set rocked out. The set was full of energy – didn't hang about between songs and high pace. There's a back catalogue that we weren't aware of but like a lot.

For a new band you could see their experience they knew how to plan a set and performed it really well. Jenny has a great voice and they both were really good musicians without being showing.

Johnny's falsetto was impressive and it was good to see Jenny singing lead on so many of the tracks, rather than just doing backing.

The kind of group that make you want to buy a guitar and start a band.

Review: La Sera, Luminaire, London UK, 10 December 2010

A classic two-girl, boy-with-glasses-on-drums beat combo. They made us think of a slew of other girl-fronted bands with sweet voices over loud guitars: Veruca Salt, Blondie, Bettie Seveert, Madder Rose etc.

Vocals were quiet in the mix, but assume that was deliberate and it did work to make the sound more like a garage band.

Enjoyable pop songs. One which they said was available on 7-inch online and which they had to restart after blowing an amp was really good. Also solid cover of 'Dedicated To The One I Love'.

Review: Arcade Fire, The 02, London, UK, 1 December 2010

Seeing the Arcade Fire play an arena show felt slightly surreal. As they said themselves, they haven't had any hit singles, and hurdy gurdy and mandolin solos are hardly typical arena fare. Yet here were all 17,000 of us, braving transport chaos on a freezing night to see them. They have become an arena band by virtue of record sales and popularity, but without having to compromise their sound or show.

The set opened with real oomph, and a barnstorming Keep the Car Running about four songs in. There was then a more subdued run of songs from The Suburbs, after which the audience were asked to imagine they were at a real rock show for the set-closing run of classics (that should have been hits had they). I don't know whether it was because of audience reaction to it, or the band's familiarity with it, but the older material seemed to lift off in a way the newer songs didn't. Perhaps that will come with time.

We managed to grab a great spot right near the front, as the side of the floor was being kept clear, allowing people to walk right up to the front before the show started.

Overall, the show was a great improvement on their Neon Bible show at Ally Pally which felt rather hollow and had few of the peaks in this show (Keep the Car..., Wake Up... etc). With faith restored, it'll be exciting to see them next time they play in London. I suspect that, more than many bands, it'd be especially thrilling to see them in a theatre-style venue, so will definitely keep an eye out for any announcements about more intimate shows.

The View, 27 November 2010, Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, London, UK

On fire, as ever.

Secret gig held in the surprising venue of a proper working men's club. Only heard about the show on Wednesday, so we were lucky to get tickets.

It was a really fun evening. The band were wandering around in the crowd before their set and during the support band, which made it feel like a family party.

The set included quite a few songs from the new album which sounded pretty good – looking forward to hearing it. They also played great versions of songs off the first two albums.

Clearly a fan's gig, the atmosphere was relaxed and lively, as you'd hope and expect, with lots of ;'The View are on Fire' chants. They played for 1hr15m or so and really rocketed through it.